This recipe is SO easy its almost embarrassing to write it up! But it’s a fantastic addition to your catalogue of calorie controlled desserts that feel like a very indulgent treat. My mum would make us this as an occasional treat, so it’s a recipe that I’ve grown up with. The key to making it low calorie is a good sugar substitute. You may know by now that Swerve sugar substitutes are some of my Gamechangers – they’re fantastic, and make this dessert possible as part of a low calorie diet.

This dessert logs in at 210 calories for a quarter of the pudding, or 263 calories when paired with some tinned custard (depending, of course, on the brand of custard you can get).

Very simply, in a large mixing bowl, put 3oz of light margarine, sift over 3oz of plain flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Add 2oz of sugar (split 50:50 between regular white sugar and swerve sugar substitute). You can play with this ratio if you want to go lighter on the calorie count, but this works for our taste and calorie budget.

Add one egg, and beat using an electric hand whisk for a minute or two until the batter is light, creamy and smooth.

Put a tablespoon of golden syrup in the bottom of a 2-pint microwave-safe pudding basin. Dump the batter on top of the syrup, lightly smoothing it to the edges of the bowl to trap the syrup underneath. Cover with clingfilm / plastic wrap and poke two small holes in the top.

Cook on high power for 4.5 – 5 minutes (depending on the wattage of your microwave oven). Using oven gloves, immediately remove from the oven and remove the plastic wrap – be very careful, the steam will escape and it’ll be very hot if it touches your fingers (yes, that’s the voice of past experience!)

Quickly invert your serving bowl on the top of the pudding basin, and flip the whole thing over to turn out the pudding. And that’s it…. ready to serve! A quarter of this pudding is a really satisfying dessert. I always make sure I have sufficient calories in my budget for a few tablespoons of tinned custard to go with it 🙂

RECIPE: MICROWAVE SYRUP SPONGE

Serves 4 at 210 calories per serving

INGREDIENTS:

• 3oz Light margarine
• 3oz self-raising flour*
• 0.5 tsp baking powder*
• 1oz regular white sugar
• 1oz swerve sugar substitute
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• *or 3oz plain / all purpose flour with 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder

METHOD:

• Put 1 tablespoon of Lyles Golden Syrup in the bottom of a 2-pint microwave safe pudding basin. Set aside.
• Into a large mixing bowl, put the light margarine
• Add both types of sugar (regular white sugar, and Swerve granulated sugar substitute)
• Sift in the flour and baking powder
• Add the egg
• Using a hand-held electric whisk, smush the ingredients together a little before turning on the power (to prevent the flour flying everywhere)
• Whisk for a minute or two till the batter is light, creamy and smooth.
• Dump the batter on top of the syrup in the pudding basin, gently smoothing it to touch the side of the bowl trapping the syrup underneath.
• Cover with cling film / plastic wrap, and poke two small holes in the top.
• Put in the microwave oven and cook on high power for 4.5 to 5 minutes depending on the wattage of your microwave.
• Immediately remove and take off the plastic wrap (watch your fingers – it’s HOT)
• Place a serving dish on top of the basin and, using oven gloves or a cloth, invert the whole thing so that the pudding drops out into the serving dish.
• Cut into quarters and serve with custard (you’ll need to calculate the extra calories for the custard, depending on the brand you use).